Expressions – Phrasal Verb or Expression for ‘Make a Short Stop’

expressionsidiom-requestsphrasal-verbs

So what I’m trying to say is “I made a short stop to buy coffee”, but in a more colloquial way. Is it okay to say “I stopped by to buy coffee? Or Like what would the correct expression be?

Best Answer

The phrasal verb stop by is generally used to mean “to visit someone briefly.” It seems you want to use it to mean a “short visit.” I would advise the following: If you say where you’re stopping by (i.e. the coffee shop), then you can fulfill the word’s definition. In other words, saying “I stopped by the coffee shop to get some coffee” would correlate with the definition “to visit someone briefly.” Even though you aren’t visiting someone per se, you are visiting something (a coffee shop). The main definition is, after all, “to visit [someone or something] briefly.” Truthfully, you can put anything in the brackets; the main idea is “to visit briefly.”

Also, if you leave out where you stopped by, it becomes ambiguous: Where did you stop by to get coffee? At your neighbor’s house? At the store? Saying where you stopped by removes any ambiguity.

This may interest you as well...

Related Topic